With the Bears and Vikings game on Monday night apparently being moved to the University of Minnesota campus, Vikings players believe they still have home-field advantage due to the game being played in-state. Not so, says a few veteran Bears.
“Doesn’t anyone remember 2002?” said Brian Urlacher, in reference to all Bears 2002 home games being played at Memorial Stadium on the University of Illinois campus when Soldier Field was under major renovations. “We were bad, like, as bad as my barbed wire tattoo bad.”
The 2002 Bears team bumbled their way to a 4-12 record, including a 3-5 record at Memorial Stadium. Then head coach Dick Jauron tried to motivate the troops during their displaced home-games with such inspiring rallying cries as, “The Power of Lincoln Compels You!” and “Bring the Illi-Noise!”
“I really thought we had something special going,” said Bears punter Brad Maynard, one of the few remaining members from the forgettable 2002 team. “We thought our opponents would be intimated by the thought of playing in Illinois. Our proud state does lead the country in gang members per capita and soybean production. That has to count for something.”
